WATCH: General McKenzie Testifies Biden State Department Policy Failures Led to Bombing at Abbey Gate

The House Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing Tuesday to assess the Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, questioning retired Gen. Frank McKenzie, the former CENTCOM Commander, and Gen. Mark Milley, retired Chair of the Joint Chiefs.

McKenzie just decimated Biden and the State Department in his opening statement, saying the disastrous withdrawal and the horrible bombing at the Abbey Gate were due to policy decisions, not the fault of the military on the ground.

You can see his full opening statement here.

Former U.S. Central Command Commander Gen. Kenneth McKenzie (Ret.) opening statement on U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan: "If there is culpability in this attack, it lies in policy decisions that created the environment of August 2021 in Kabul." pic.twitter.com/7pUBNX243r
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 19, 2024

McKenzie recognized the Gold Star families that were there in the room and honored the people who lost their lives in Afghanistan.

He started by explaining that plans had been worked out while President Trump was in office for the withdrawal of U.S. military forces and for a non-combatant evacuation operation (NEO), which he said were "two distinct and separate operations."

McKenzie briefed Trump on both plans on June 3, 2020, and Trump selected a branch of the plan that maintained 2,500 U.S. military personnel by inauguration day, 2021, and a completed withdrawal by May 2021 "if we were ordered to do so."

He said on April 11, 2021, Biden issued the order to withdraw U.S. military personnel by September 11, 2021, and then that date was modified to conclude on August 31, 2021. The plan Biden ordered the military to execute did not include closing the embassy or evacuating Americans or our allies, despite the fact they had worked out a plan to do so. He didn't get that order to get out the Americans and allies until August 14.

McKenzie said the military withdrawal was substantially completed by mid-July 2021, and then he took over as the theater commander for Afghanistan.

My orders then were to retain a military platform of 650 personnel solely designed to provide security for the U.S. Embassy and Karzai International Airport. During this period, and with minimal to no support from us, the Afghan security forces and more importantly the government of Afghanistan crumbled in the face of Taliban pressure. Orders to commence the non-combatant evacuation operation, bringing out our embassy, our citizens, and at-risk Afghans, were received on 14 August. These dates are important because I believe that the events of mid- and late-August 2021 were the direct result of delaying the initiation of the NEO for several months, until...the Taliban had overrun the country."

He testified that the State Department is in charge of initiating the NEO, but that despite that, the military started positioning assets in the region waiting for the State Department to decide it was time to initiate the NEO. Eventually, nearly 6,000 U.S. troops were placed on the ground at Karzai International Airport to effect this NEO.

Regarding what happened at Abbey Gate, McKenzie said:

It remains my opinion that if there is culpability in this attack, it lies in policy decisions that created the environment of August 2021 in Kabul. Culpability and responsibility do not lie with the troops on the ground, who performed magnificently. It does not lie with the platoon, company, or battalion commanders, or the flag officers who oversaw operations on the ground in Kabul.
. . .
If there's fault, it lies in a policy decision that placed the joint force in this situation and exposed the force over time to the possibility of these kinds of attacks.

When the two generals were questioned further they both reaffirmed that the Biden State Department moved "far too little, far too late" to address getting Americans and our allies out.

House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul has Gen. Milley & McKenzie affirm that the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal apparently lays at the feet of the Biden State Department and White House, rather than the military.

The hearing is ongoing.
. pic.twitter.com/DMnfEa3qEx
— Paul Villarreal (AKA Vince Manfeld) (@AureliusStoic1) March 19, 2024

Milley said they recommended that the embassy come out at the same time as the military, that it would be untenable to have it there after a military pullout. But they were clearly ignored. He also said it was clear to him that the withdrawal of the forces and the contractors would lead to a collapse of the government. But Biden did it anyway.

Because of the Biden administration's policy failures, 13 brave young Americans were killed and many more wounded, and hundreds of Americans and thousands of allies were left behind.

The horrible thing, as the House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-TX) explained, is that Biden and the administration refuse to acknowledge their failures. No one has been held accountable for any of this.

House Investigation Into Afghanistan Withdrawal Already Exposing Biden Administration's Incompetence

Thousands of Betrayed Afghan Allies Remain Stranded There From Joe Biden's Botched Exit